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Calories · Thai & Vietnamese

Calories in gai yang

A typical restaurant serving of gai yang (a leg-and-thigh quarter of gai yang (about 200 g of meat) with a bag of sticky rice (100 g), about 300 g) is about 600 calories, usually 450–800.

Restaurant portions vary; this is a typical estimate, not a label. Also called kai yang, Thai grilled chicken, Isan grilled chicken, gai yang with sticky rice.

~600
Gai yang

The usual range

Drawn on one 0–2,000 scale shared by every dish page, so plates compare at a glance.

Protein, carbs and fat

  • Protein64 g
  • Carbs54 g
  • Fat14 g

One serving

Serving
a leg-and-thigh quarter of gai yang (about 200 g of meat) with a bag of sticky rice (100 g)
Weight
~300 g
Per 100 g
~200

The dish

About gai yang

Gai yang is the grilled chicken of Isan: chicken marinated in garlic, coriander root, lemongrass and fish sauce, grilled over charcoal and eaten with sticky rice, som tam and a tamarind-chilli dipping sauce (jaew). The chicken is lean for its size; the sticky rice adds up. Numbers from Mahidol University’s Thai food tables for grilled chicken (184 per 100 g) and steamed sticky rice (232 per 100 g); the portions are our estimates.

Ways it comes

One dish, a few numbers

Gai yang · rough numbers

  • Chicken only, no rice~370

What moves the number

Why one plate is 450 and another 800

  • Sticky rice: about 230 a bag
  • Skin left on, especially on thighs and wings
  • Half a chicken instead of a quarter
  • Sweet chilli dipping sauce

Ordering lighter

If you want a lighter plate

  • Pick breast and peel off some skin
  • Take half the sticky rice
  • Pair it with som tam or larb instead of more rice

Side by side

Next to other Thai & Vietnamese dishes

Thai & Vietnamese · typical restaurant servingAll about Thai & Vietnamese food →

  • Tom yum~160one bowl of clear shrimp tom yum with broth, rice not included · usually 100–350
  • Som tam~210one plate of som tam Thai: pounded green papaya with dried shrimp, peanuts, tomato and palm sugar dressing · usually 60–350
  • Larb~240one plate of larb (about 200 g): minced meat tossed with lime, fish sauce, chilli, herbs and toasted rice powder · usually 180–400
  • Thai milk tea~280one regular cup (400 ml) of Thai milk tea over ice, sweetened with sugar and milk or creamer · usually 150–400
  • Fresh spring rolls~300about three rice-paper rolls with vegetables and meat, dipping sauce not included · usually 200–400
  • Tom kha gai~370one bowl of tom kha gai: chicken, galangal, lemongrass and mushrooms in coconut milk broth · usually 250–550
  • Pho~440one medium bowl with broth · usually 330–650
  • Mango sticky rice~490one plate of sticky rice, sweet coconut sauce and half a mango · usually 380–650
  • Khao pad (Thai fried rice)~500one plate of khao pad: jasmine rice fried with pork, egg, onion and tomato, with lime and cucumber · usually 400–750
  • Boat noodles~530one full-size bowl of pork boat noodles with meatballs and rice noodles in dark spiced broth · usually 380–940
  • Bánh mì~550one mixed-pork bánh mì on an 80 g roll · usually 400–750
  • Moo ping~560three moo ping skewers (about 120 g of pork) with a bag of sticky rice (100 g) · usually 400–750

In PlateDiary

A rough number for the dishes you save — only if you want one.

Off unless you turn them on

Calories in PlateDiary are off unless you turn them on. Switch them on and, when PlateDiary AI reads your photo of the table, each dish gets one rough “~” number. Accept it or change it; a number you correct is remembered for that dish. With Calories off, the app looks exactly as it did before.

A read sends small pictures of the cut-out dishes, with the place's name as a hint — never the table photo, faces or your location. Calorie numbers never go to analytics, and nothing is written to a health app. PlateDiary AI starts with free tries; here is how it works.

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How these numbers were made

Method and sources

Last reviewed

Restaurant portions and cooking vary, so these are typical estimates for one serving, built from the sources below. Treat it as a rough number: your plate may land anywhere in the range.

If you manage a health condition, ask a doctor or registered dietitian.

AI helped draft this page; every number was checked against the sources.

  1. Thai Food Composition Database (INMU, Mahidol University) — Chicken, grilled (food ID 900); Rice, glutinous, polished, steamed (food ID 149)

Questions

Questions people ask.

How many calories are in gai yang?

A typical restaurant serving of gai yang (a leg-and-thigh quarter of gai yang (about 200 g of meat) with a bag of sticky rice (100 g), about 300 g) is about 600 calories, usually 450–800. The number depends mostly on the portion and how it is cooked.

How many calories in gai yang?

About 370 for a quarter chicken with about 200 g of meat, and about 600 with a bag of sticky rice.

How many calories in gai yang, som tam and sticky rice?

About 600 for the chicken and rice, plus about 210 for a plate of som tam: around 810 for the Isan classic.

Is gai yang healthy?

It is one of the leaner Thai meals: grilled, not fried, and high in protein.

What changes the calories in gai yang?

Sticky rice: about 230 a bag. Skin left on, especially on thighs and wings.

How can I order gai yang lighter?

Pick breast and peel off some skin. Take half the sticky rice.

Can PlateDiary show calories for the dishes I eat out?

Yes, if you want it to: calories in PlateDiary are off unless you turn them on. Switch them on and each dish you save from a photo of the table gets one rough “~” number you can accept or change.